April 15: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) has urged Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank, to take immediate measures to reduce the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the national economy.    
NCC stated this in a memorandum to the NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari on Tuesday. It has also urged the state to address the demands of the private sector saying the private sector is the main source of revenue of the state and promoting and protecting it contributed to the overall development of the country.     
The NCC has called for constituting a high-level task force including the representatives of the private sector for carrying out a study on the impact of coronavirus pandemic on the economy, for forming a high-powered mechanism to restore the economy back to its previous state after assessing the impact of the pandemic and making provisions for the banks and financial institutions to issue loans to all types of businesses and traders for long period.    
Likewise, it urged the NRB to make provisions for providing the refinancing facilities to all types of micro, small, medium and big enterprises and other businesses as well on the basis of the status of the impact of coronavirus on these sectors. It said this refinancing should be 10 per cent in addition to the current loan. It has also called for a three per cent spread rate of banks, making the CRR flexible and increasing the flow of investment capital. -- RSS